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I encountered this in one of my language learning apps. What is the difference between

昨天這個男孩沒喝牛奶 (by google translate: The boy did not drink milk yesterday)

and

昨天這個男孩沒喝牛奶 (by google translate: The boy did not drink milk yesterday)

Do these mean the same thing? Or is there some slight difference between 沒有喝牛奶 and just 沒喝牛奶?

Thanks in advance!

3 Answers 3

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They are exactly the same meaning giving your context, when they before a verb.

Also notice that, "没" itself have the meaning "not have". That means "没" = "没有" even when they before a noun.

  • 我没钱。= 我没有钱。= I have no money.

There is a little difference between the Taiwan dialect of mandarin and the mainland one, maybe informal. That is, when I say, "I have done it." In Taiwan version, we can say, 我有做过,in mainland, we say, 我做过。 But the negative form is the same, 我没(有)做过。 I am not sure "我有做过" is formal in Taiwan, but in mainland, it is definitely be thought as informal and "too Taiwan".

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昨天這個男孩沒有喝牛奶 sounds a bit formal.

昨天這個男孩沒喝牛奶 is casual.

No difference in meaning.

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In this context, it is exactly the same, there is no difference. I am Chinese, believe me. When you use these two sentences in your life, you can use either one to see your mood.

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